Does Adverse Possession apply to items other than land?

[drussell]

About 13 years ago a friend needed a place to store her mother's piano after her mother died died. Since I play the piano but did not have one, she asked us if we would "keep" it for her since she did not have room in her house for it. She later divorced and we have since lost contact with her completely. Her ex-husband asked for the piano about 7 years ago, but wanted me to deliver it to his second floor apartment. When I told he he would have to more the piano himself, he dropped his request, and I have not heard from either of them since. My family has been actively using the piano for the last 13 years - I play, and both of my children have been using it for piano lessons for the last four years. I recently accepted a new job in another state, and will be moving this summer. The ex-husband just learned that we will be moving, told his ex-wife, and she apparently now wants the piano back. I'm aware of the Adverse Possession laws that apply to the possession of property (land). Is there a similar law regarding the possession of items like a piano? Since I have had the piano in my possession for the last 13 years, does it legally belong to me, or does it still belong to the woman who asked me to keep it for her 13 years ago, but then never contacted me about it again until she heard we were moving?

I forgot to post the State: I live in Michigan.

 

[justalayman]

give them the piano.

If you had posted your state like you were asked to do, I could have checked to see if there was any possibility you could keep the piano but since you didn't, I'll go with what a lot of states require: you had to provide a demand for the owner to retrieve their property within some prescribed period of time or forfeit the property. Since you hadn't done that, you must return the piano.

 

[Dettos]

About 13 years ago a friend needed a place to store her mother's piano after her mother died died. Since I play the piano but did not have one, she asked us if we would "keep" it for her since she did not have room in her house for it. She later divorced and we have since lost contact with her completely. Her ex-husband asked for the piano about 7 years ago, but wanted me to deliver it to his second floor apartment. When I told he he would have to more the piano himself, he dropped his request, and I have not heard from either of them since. My family has been actively using the piano for the last 13 years - I play, and both of my children have been using it for piano lessons for the last four years. I recently accepted a new job in another state, and will be moving this summer. The ex-husband just learned that we will be moving, told his ex-wife, and she apparently now wants the piano back. I'm aware of the Adverse Possession laws that apply to the possession of property (land). Is there a similar law regarding the possession of items like a piano? Since I have had the piano in my possession for the last 13 years, does it legally belong to me, or does it still belong to the woman who asked me to keep it for her 13 years ago, but then never contacted me about it again until she heard we were moving?
I forgot to post the State: I live in Michigan.

have you dealt with the issue?

 

[Taxing Matters]

have you dealt with the issue?

You posted to an 8 year old thread. This site disfavors reactivating old threads by someone other than the person who started it. If you have questions of your own on the same issue, start your own thread and link to the old one if you need to refer to it. The original poster here is likely long gone so you probably won't get a reply from him/her. But I'll give you a short explanation of how this works anway.

Adverse possession is a statute of limitation rule that prevents the true owner of the land from ejecting the adverse possessor from the land after the specified period of time in the law has passed. Without going into a discussion of all the elements of adverse possession, I'll get to the heart of it. Adverse possession involves someone using the property as if it was their own without the consent of the true owner. If the person on the land is there with the permission of the true owner the adverse possession period never starts. Only when the person is there against the wishes of the true owner and the true owner does nothing about it do you get an adverse possession situation.

With personal property like a piano, there is a somewhat similar concept though the process works a bit differently. With personal property, the issue is whether the item has been abandoned. If it has been abandoned, then the finder of the abandoned property may lay claim to it, after following the process in the state law for doing that. But if you have the piano with the consent of the true owner and the true owner knows where it is you don't have a situation where the piano is abandoned. Sure, it's been 15 years, but without some indication that she ever abandoned that piano (or made a gift of it to you) then it still belongs to her.

In both cases, using the property with the consent of the true owner basically kills your claim to ownership of it by adverse possession/abandonment.

If you have your own situation you want to discuss, post a new thread for that.